"Wendini": The Metaphor of Sound

Deja 2022-03-03 08:01:23

In Petzold's "Yela" in 2007, Yella heard a deafening screeching sound several times. It was the echo of the water flowing into the water before she died, and the water flow stimulated her eardrums at the beginning of the film. The story revolves around all her fantasies before her death. And in this year's "Wendini", there is no doubt that the director is still doing sound practice.

When Wendini stood in the apartment with the newly glued puppet and recited the narration, the audience could hear the sound of water flowing like underwater stimulating the eardrums, and then there was the scene of two trains meeting outside the window. The impression is naturally transformed into the inherent roar of the train, and then the doorbell is superimposed on it, Christoph makes a sudden visit, and the two also meet and hug. The place where Wendini works happens to be Berlin's Museum Island, surrounded by water. This special sound brings out the image of water currents and trains, connecting the city and her lover, bringing Wentini her other half.

It was also that night that Wentini explained the Berlin City Palace to Christoph. The next day, when the two walked on the road snuggling together, in addition to the oncoming Johannes and his girlfriend, there was also a building under construction in the background. There are many cranes nearby. This is likely to be the City Palace, which was renamed Humboldt Forum as explained by Wendini (it was supposed to open in September 2019, but it was postponed to the autumn of 2020, and the completion was further delayed due to the fire and the epidemic. , which officially opened on December 16), a controversial and constantly rebuilt building, in this context, a metaphor for Wentini's love situation.

This architectural metaphor first appeared in the previous film "Transit" (also starring Paula Bell and Franz Rogowski), where the hero turns around and finds a woman with a dog dancing in the square on this side of Fort Saint-Jean. He committed suicide, and opposite the Fort Saint-Jean is the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations, which are connected by an air bridge of more than 100 meters. In the footage, it can be found that this air bridge does not appear in a more bridge-like form, because the buildings on both sides are almost on the same level. Through this way of framing, it vaguely shows that the other side can never pass, and death will always be here. Stopping at the same time will undoubtedly bring out the ending of the film: neither of them can get out of Marseille, the heroine who died unexpectedly and the hero who stayed there waiting for her will meet again.

In "Wendini", Berlin City Palace also brought out her love story with Christoph. The love that had been built and disintegrated in the past was present at the same time as the love that was just beginning to build an unstable foundation, which made her heart skip a beat. One beat, but this absent heartbeat (the audience's inaudible sound) also planted the seeds of lies.

On the day of Christopher's accident, Wentini received his ghost phone call in the apartment and could only lie under his pressure. After that, she did not get through to Christopher again. When she stared at the diver doll on the table, the sound of the water irritating the eardrums sounded again, and a similar scene appeared, this time it was a train running in the dark, the hazy sound of the water was intensified into a roar, followed by a dialing sound. The voice of the voice mail is superimposed on it, and it is also a combination of voices in the same pattern, except that this time the sound of water flowing out is a train representing the departure, and the voice mail that has been dialed unilaterally. The fate of the two is also fabled. In it, this message, which expresses the heart, will be a farewell to love.

When we go back to the starting point of this water sound, back to the scene where Wentini walked into the cafe for the first time, the sequence of sounds appeared for the first time. The sound of the water flowing in the fish tank that attracted her for the first time, she forgot to turn off the gurgling sound of the water tap, she chose to turn it off gently, because this was what she heard in the process of looking for Johannes, and only cutting off this water flow can end this relationship, It also lays the groundwork for Johannes' future cut off life.

When she returned downstairs, she heard the sound of her name calling, and the sound of the water in the fish tank began to intensify. Christopher appeared, and finally appeared in a magical moment praised by the audience. The weak and unclosed water flow was violently blasted. Replaced, poured on the two of them. Of course, it was accompanied by the wound under the torrent, suggesting that in their subsequent love, Christopher's integrity was precisely because of Wendini's sacrifice to save.

Therefore, it can be seen why the whole soundtrack is Bach's D minor Concerto BWV974 Chapter 2 from beginning to end. It is concise and sad, rendering the atmosphere of the characters acting alone and as a reminder of the emergence of differences, but also in order not to destroy the carefully arranged sound effects. strength.

Contrasted with this classical piece is Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" from the late 1970s, the drowning scene in which Christopher hums the tune during first aid before putting Wendy down. Ni saved it, but it was hard to tell that it was a tune when I first listened to it. I mistakenly thought it was just some kind of murmur. Probably only Christoph's careful other half could hear it. This kind of careful listening between lovers The music that can be understood by others may only be the inaudible sound mentioned above, after all, this is the moment that belongs to the two of them.

However, after verification, it can be found that the rhythm of this song completely matches the rhythm required for cardiopulmonary resuscitation chest compressions, and humming helps to master the speed during rescue. It is a veritable life-saving song. However, the moment Windini received a call from Christoph while listening to the song in the apartment, the song changed from a song of life to a song of death, and for listening to various versions, She still thinks the original version is the best, she seems to have to accept the original fate of the water elf to rescue her, so there is such an ending.

Through various carefully arranged sound effects and theme music of the past and present, Petzold connects the entire film, with the connection of the professional identities of the male and female protagonists, put on the cloak of mythology, and wrote the love myth of this city. It undoubtedly confirms what Camus wrote in "The Plague": "The easy way to understand a city is to explore how its inhabitants work, how they love, and how they die." An interpretive history of Berlin through urban models Scientists and industrial divers in charge of maintenance, the former represents buildings rising from the ground, the latter represents water flowing deep into the ground, Petzold reverses their status and life and death, showing the inseparable relationship between love and the city, so the film It begins with the loud city sound, because this love was born in this city, and this sound also brings out the whole image of love.

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Extended Reading
  • Taryn 2022-03-17 09:01:09

    The fun of watching Petzold is to see how he brings the ingenuity of elemental spirits to the ground in love stories, so seeing the models of Berlin buildings and the memories that flow between the streets and bridges of real Berlin frequently overlap, or Yes, the break of the diver's model clumsily heralded the diver's catastrophe. In fact, in addition to killing the ex in response to the myth of Wentini, the whole story can be regarded as a deformation of "The Daughter of the Sea", the little mermaid throws away the dagger that was supposed to assassinate the prince and jumps into the sea and turns into foam , has the same power as Wentini's falling into the deep: the supreme love is to love others, my heart should not miss a single beat in your hands, so love must call for sacrifice and death.

  • Kaelyn 2022-04-24 07:01:24

    The best passage is that the two of them are walking on the road with their heads on their heads, like twin spirits. Legend has it that it is too loose when it is imposed on the two of them through occupation.